Playing "Go Fish" with Norah.

She couldn't help but yell out the cards she drew. "I got a D!" But, I didn't take advantage of that. I pretended like I didn't know every... single... one of the cards in her hand, so she actually ended up winning the game.

This reminded me of one of the many memorable excerpts from The Shack:

The main character Mack speaks to God:

"Now here I am telling you about my kids and my friends and about Nan, but your already know everything I am telling you, don't you? You're acting like its the first time you heard it."

God the Holy Spirit, who finds it natural to hover over the ground, answers him.

"...Remember that staying on the ground (for me) is a choice to facilitate a relationship. Mack... you do this. You don't play a game or color a picture with a child to show your superiority. Rather, you choose to limit yourself in order to facilitate and honor that relationship. You will even loose a competition to accomplish love. It is not about winning or loosing, but about love and respect."

To me, this is a near flawless explanation as to how and why God deals with people. It explains why He would ask us to pray, for example, and then listen attentively to every word we say, even though He knows the details of our situation far better than we do. I can quote every line in The Little Mermaid, but I don't remind Norah of this. I let her tell me the story and even get it wrong, again and again, because she enjoys doing it and I respect her.

And, it illustrates how well God loves us. Just as God is higher than I, I am much more advanced than my little girl, capable of playing a mean game of rummy. But, there isn't much I'd rather do than spend time with Norah, playing Go Fish or Uno, something simple like that, simply because I love her.